Cynane

Date of birth unknown; d. 323 B.C.E., Macedon, ancient Greece

Cynane, daughter of King Philip II of Macedon and half-sister of Alexander the Great, was taught the skills of horse riding, hunting, and fighting by her mother, Audata. She married a cousin but was widowed in 336 B.C.E. and never remarried, preferring to join her father’s military campaigns. Cynane also educated her daughter Eurydice and when her half-brother Philip III became king of Macedon, Cynane decided that he should marry her daughter. Her plan, which would have given her tremendous political power, so alarmed the regents that they executed Cynane and Eurydice in 323 B.C.E., before the marriage could take place.